Liquid active substance dispenser for W.C. bowl

ABSTRACT

The dispenser comprises a closed bottle ( 11 ) containing active substance (R) in the liquid state, and a support means ( 50 ) for supporting said bottle ( 11 ). According to the invention there are provided a collection tray ( 15 ) supported by the support means and collecting water from the flushing flow in such a manner as to increase the water level in its interior, and a half-siphon ( 20 ) with an inlet ( 23 ) which draws water from the collection tray ( 15 ), and an outlet ( 24 ) positioned at a lower level than the inlet ( 23 ), to discharge water to the outside of the collection tray ( 15 ). Said half-siphon ( 20 ), on its action being triggered by the water level in the tray ( 15 ), draws water from the tray ( 15 ). The bottom of the interior of the bottle ( 11 ) communicates with the outside via a sized passage ( 26, 28, 32 ) able, when under static conditions, to prevent the active substance leaving through it; in addition, the suction side of the half-siphon ( 20 ) is connected to the interior of the bottle ( 11 ) via said sized passage ( 26, 28, 32 ) to draw a gauged quantity of active substance.

This invention relates to a dispenser for liquid active substances (deodorants/cleansers/refreshers/disinfectants and the like) for a W.C. bowl.

It has been known for some time to use cage-like containers which are suspended below the rim of the W.C. bowl in a position such as to be struck by the flow of flushing water. An active cleansing and/or deodorant and/or air refreshing and/or disinfectant substance in solid block form is placed in the cage, to release its action on encountering the flushing water flow, and be diluted into it.

One defect is that the quantity of perfuming substance which can be incorporated as a component in the mixture which forms the solid block is relatively small, and moreover some components, and in particular this perfuming substance, are washed out by the water flow more quickly than others, with the result that their action does not have constant behaviour during the life of the block, but rapidly decreases to quickly disappear. Containers suitable for containing an active substance in the form of a gel are also known, having holes through which the water enters and leaves, entraining with it a part of the dissolved active substance.

EP 538957 describes a dispenser for a W.C. bowl comprising a bed of sponge material which is suspended below the bowl rim in a horizontal position, to be lapped by the flushing water flow, On this sponge bed a bottle containing liquid active substance is positioned inverted, with its mouth in contact with the sponge.

Other solutions are illustrated in WO99/66139 which shows an inverted bottle containing liquid active substance with its mouth positioned in contact with a plate provided with thin grooves for diffusing the liquid. Still further solutions are illustrated in the patents EP878586, EP1046756 and WO01/04428, which do not use a sponge bed.

An object of this invention is to provide a device of the type to be housed within a W.C. bowl, comprising a closed bottle the interior of which contains active substance in the liquid state, and a support means for supporting said bottle, which is different from known devices and is able to overcome the drawbacks arising in the operation of known devices, and in particular is able to effect a sized, sufficiently regular and controlled delivery of the active substance from the bottle.

Another object is to provide a dispenser which is of simple low-cost manufacture.

These and further objects are attained by the dispenser of the invention as characterised in the claims.

The invention is described in detail hereinafter with the aid of the accompanying figures, which illustrate embodiments thereof by way of non-exclusive example.

FIG. 1 is a schematic outline section through the dispenser of the invention applied to a W.C. bowl.

FIG. 1A is an enlarged detail of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a schematic section through a second embodiment of the dispenser.

FIG. 2A is a top plan view of FIG. 2, without the bottle.

FIG. 3 is a schematic section through a third embodiment of the dispenser.

In the basic scheme, shown in FIG. 1, the dispenser of the invention is of the type comprising a closed bottle 11 containing in its interior an active substance R in the liquid state, and a support means 50 to support said bottle 11 in the interior of the W.C. bowl.

The invention comprises, supported by the support means 50, a collection tray 15 for collecting water from the flushing flow in such a manner as to increase the water level in its interior, and a half-siphon 20 comprising an ascending leg 21 with an inlet 23 which draws water from the collection tray 15, and a longer descending leg 22 having an outlet 24 positioned at a lower level than the inlet 23, to discharge water to the outside of the collection tray 15. When the action of the half-siphon 20 is triggered (this happening when the water level in the tray 15 exceeds an upper level, indicated by A, corresponding to the top of the descending leg 22), it draws water from the tray. In addition the bottom of the interior of the bottle 11 (i.e. that part in which the active substance R is collected as its level falls during use) communicates with the outside via a sized conduit 26 able, when under static conditions, to prevent the active substance leaving through it, the suction side of the half-siphon being connected to the bottle interior via said sized passage 26 to draw a gauged quantity of active substance.

In use, when under static conditions (i.e. when the flush has not been operated) the substance does not leave the bottle 11 through said sized passage 26, because this is sufficiently small in relation to the surface tension of the active substance R, to hence reach a static equilibrium situation in which the passage is closed and the substance does not descend by the effect of the difference in pressure between the interior and the outside environment.

When the flush is operated the tray 15, which is positioned to encounter the water flow, collects water Q, the level of which hence increases in its interior. When this level reaches the level A the action of the half-siphon 20 is triggered, to draw water through the ascending leg 21 and discharge it to the outside of the tray along the descending leg 22; this action lasts until, the tray in the meantime having ceased to collect water (the flushing flow having terminated), the level in the tray 15 falls to the level B, corresponding to the inlet mouth 23, at which point the siphon action is deactivated. During the action of the half-siphon 20 a slight vacuum (intrinsic with the action of the siphon) is created in its interior with its maximum negative value at the top, and as this action acts on the substance R present in the bottle 11, a relatively small quantity of active substance R is drawn by the half-siphon 20 out of the bottle and through the conduit 26, to be mixed with the flushing water and produce the desired deodorant/cleansing/refreshing/disinfectant action etc. Finally, when the water in the tray reaches the level B and hence the action of the half-siphon 20 ceases, the interior of this latter communicates with the outer air; hence the interior of the bottle 11, in which the vacuum increases as the substance R is extracted from the bottle 11, draws a quantity of air from the siphon to compensate the decrease in the volume of active substance R in its interior and recreates the static equilibrium situation, so preventing the active substance R from leaving the bottle 11. As the action of the half-siphon 20 is determined mainly by the geometrical characteristics of the dispenser, it remains quite constant for different types of W.C.s and for different flushing flow characteristics; in addition the suction action on the active substance R is much greater than the forces which under static conditions prevent the active substance from leaving the bottle, hence its extraction is influenced only slightly by these; the result is that the behaviour of the dispenser, in particular the exit of the active substance from the bottle, is very constant both with continuing use, and as the conditions under which it is used vary (arrangement of the dispenser on the basis of the geometry of the W.C. bowl, flow intensity), and with varying physical characteristics of the active substance R.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A, a member 41 for closing the bottle mouth 12 is advantageously provided which connects the mouth 12 to the half-siphon 20 via said sized conduit 26. Said member 41 comprises a tube of vertical axis, the diameter of which is such that its outer lateral surface sealedly encircles the inner surface of the exit mouth 12, its bottom being closed by an end 42 communicating with the conduit 26. Preferably its upper end is cut along an inclined plane to define a pointed element. In use, the bottle 11 is coupled to the tube 41 by making this penetrate its mouth 12, hence also breaking a diaphragm closing the mouth 12 before the bottle 11 engages the support means.

In this embodiment, the ascending leg 21 of the half-siphon 20 is spaced from the descending leg and is connected to it by a curved upper portion 25 connected to the bottle 11. This is disposed with its closed mouth 12 facing downwards and connected to the curved portion 24 by the conduit 26, the passageway through the conduit 26 and/or the aperture in the bottom 42 by which the conduit communicates with the mouth 12 defining said sized passage.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 differs from the first embodiment substantially by just the form of the half-siphon 20. In this, the ascending leg 21 has a larger diameter than the descending leg 22 and coaxially embraces its upper end portion; its upper end is closed by the end 42 of the closure member 41 to define a sort of cap which covers and surrounds the upper end portion of the leg 22.

Again in this embodiment the bottle is disposed with its mouth 12 facing downwards and closed by the end 42, through which there is a sized passage 28 connecting the mouth of the bottle 11 to the suction region of the half-siphon 20. The leg 22 is joined to the leg 21 by vertical fins 29. Preferably, both in the first and in the second embodiment, the collection tray 15 possesses one or more drainage apertures 16 to discharge the water which collects in it, however at a decidedly lesser rate than that with which the water collects in its interior during the flushing flow, so that an increase in water level is still obtained for the aforesaid reasons.

The third embodiment, shown in FIG. 3, differs from the preceding by comprising a cap 30 with its concavity facing downwards and enclosing the upper end portion of the half-siphon 20, which can be either of the type shown in FIG. 1 or of the type shown in FIG. 2. The edge 31 of the lower mouth extends downwards within the collection chamber for a short distance below the level B of the inlet 23 of the half-siphon, the top of the interior of the cap 30 being connected, via a sized passage 32 provided in the end 42, to the bottom of the interior of the bottle 11. Again in this case, when under static conditions the substance does not escape from the bottle 11 through the sized passage 32 as this is sufficiently small.

When the flushing water flow is activated, the level in the tray 15 and in the cap 30 increases, and when this level reaches the level A the action of the half-siphon 20 is triggered, so that it draws water through the ascending leg 21 and discharges it to the outside of the tray; this action lasts until, the tray in the meantime having ceased to collect water, the level in the tray 15 falls to the level B, corresponding to the inlet mouth 23, at which point the siphon action is deactivated.

The suction on the water inside the cap 30, produced by the half-siphon 20, creates a slight vacuum within the cap 30 and as this environment is connected via the passage 32 to the interior of the bottle 11 (while it is closed against the external environment because the edge of the mouth 31 is still immersed in the water Q present in the tray 15), a relatively small gauged quantity of active substance R is drawn from the bottle 11 and then mixed with the water present in the tray 15; this remains for a certain time inside the tray to perfume the environment and is then entrained by the next flushing flow, to produce the desired deodorant/cleansing/refreshing/disinfectant action etc.

Finally when the water in the tray 15, discharged through one or more drainage apertures 16 (of dimensions such that drainage takes place at a rate decidedly less than that at which the water gathers in the tray interior during a flushing flow), falls below the lower end of the edge 31 of the cap, the interior of this latter becomes connected to the external air; then the interior of the bottle 11, the vacuum in which increases when the substance R is extracted, draws a quantity of air from the cap 30 to compensate the decrease in the volume of active substance R in its interior (ventilation) and recreates the static equilibrium situation which prevents the active substance R from escaping from the bottle 11.

Another ventilation action also occurs when the level in the tray increases under the flushing flow, as the air which remains trapped in the cap is urged under slight pressure towards the bottle interior.

Numerous modifications of a practical and applicational nature can be made to the invention, but without leaving the scope of the inventive idea as claimed below. 

1. A liquid active substance dispenser for a W.C. bowl, comprising a closed bottle (11) the interior of which contains active substance (R) in the liquid state, and a support means (50) for supporting said bottle (11) characterised by comprising: supported by the support means, a collection tray (15) for collecting water from the flushing flow in such a manner as to increase the water level in its interior, a half-siphon (20) with an inlet (23) which draws water from the collection tray (15), and an outlet (24) positioned at a lower level than the inlet (23), to discharge water to the outside of the collection tray (15), said half-siphon (20), on its action being triggered by the water level in the tray (15), drawing water from the tray (15), the bottom of the interior of the bottle (11) communicating with the outside via a sized passage (26, 28, 32) able, when under static conditions, to prevent the active substance leaving through it, the suction side of the half-siphon (20) being connected to the interior of the bottle (11) via said sized passage (26, 28, 32) to draw a gauged quantity of active substance.
 2. A dispenser as claimed in claim 1, characterised by comprising a passage (26, 29) which connects the bottom of the interior of the bottle (11) to the upper region of the half-siphon (20) which is under vacuum when the half-siphon (20) is in operation.
 3. A dispenser as claimed in claim 1, characterised by comprising a downwardly facing cap (30) enclosing the upper end portion of the half-siphon (20), the edge (31) of the lower mouth extending downwards within the collection chamber (15) to below the level of the inlet of the half-siphon, the top of the interior of said cap (30) being connected to the bottom of the interior of the bottle (11). 